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DTH Sport Saturday , ?C' " iC’r- •' t Acrds^^-Nation Five major Division I schools stand undefeated. However, the best team in the country is not among them. Oregon sits at 5-1, ranked sev enth in the country - the highest ranking for any Oregon team in 36 years. Why are undefeated Nebraska, Virginia Tech, Clemson and Oklahoma getting more respect than the Ducks? Simple. No one knows about Oregon football. Fans rarely stay up late to watch the west coast games, and the highlights are squeezed onto the end of Sports Center. Those reasons, combined with the fact that quarterback Joey Harrington isn’t flashy, make Oregon college football’s best kept secret. Harrington doesn’t have the elu siveness of Woodrow Dantzler or the arm of Josh Heupel. He doesn’t electrify a crowd like Michael Vick. But he wins. He has led the Ducks to a 3-0 mark in the PAC-10, a conference that currently places five teams in the top 25. Those victories include wins against then-No. 6 Washington and then-No. 6 UCLA. The only slip-up was a 27-23 loss to then-No. 5 Wisconsin in Madison. Next up, 21 st-ranked Arizona. Further down the road, the Ducks can look forward to meeting its archrival, No. 19 Oregon State. At season’s end, Oregon will have played at least six games against opponents ranked in the top 25. The Huskers, Hokies, Tigers and Sooners can’t boast that Throwing the Trophy Away At the beginning of the season, one of the the major questions in college football was who would win the Heisman Trophy. Now the question appears to be who won’t win the Heisman. Georgia’s Quincy Carter crossed himself off the list with a five-interception performance against South Carolina. Purdue’s Drew Brees and Florida State’s Chris Weinke are putting up huge numbers, but their respective teams have failed to look impressive. Vick and Nebraska’s Eric Crouch are winning, but without Heisman-worthy numbers. The true favorite now is Clemson’s Dantzler, who could become the first player in NCAA history to pass for 2,000 yards and run for an additional 1,000. Through seven games, he’s more than halfway there, with 1,271 passing yards and 819 on the ground. Beating FSU and getting the Tigers a shot at the national title would seal the deal. —Roland Hoffman FSU Faces Challenge From UVa. The sixth-ranked Seminoles hope to improve their BCS ranking with a win today against the Cavaliers. By Curt Kendall Staff Writer Only in Tallahassee is six wins and one loss considered a disappoint ment. Despite the lone blemish, Florida State still feels confident about its national championship chances. “I would think that if we can run the table, we’d probably have a good shot at getting back (to the national championship game),” Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. No. 6 ranked Florida State (6-1, 4-0 in the ACC) faces its first real challenge since its Oct. 7 loss at Miami (Fla.) today at 3:30 against Virginia (4-2, 3-1). Last week, the Seminoles padded their stats in a 63-14 homecoming win against winless Duke. Quarterback Chris Weinke dis missed all questions about his ankle injury by setting an FSU single-game record with 536 passing yards while only playing three quarters against the Blue Devils. FSU’s no-huddle offense, featuring Weinke’s arm and the ground attack led by senior tailback Travis Minor, will look to strike quickly and put Virginia away early. Florida State ranks first nationally in total offense and should move the ball effectively against a Virginia defense that yields 369 yards per game. Senior wideout Marvin Minnis, one of Weinke’s favorite targets, will DTH/MILLER PEARSALL Florida State senior running back Travis Minor has rushed for 443 yards and three touchdowns this season. He is seventh in the ACC in rushing. ACC Gameday DTH/DAVID SANDLER Virginia quarterback Dan Ellis might not play today against Florida State. He pulled a hamstring two weeks ago against Maryland. look to have another big receiving day against UVa. Minnis ranks sec ond in the ACC with 96.7 receiving yards per game. The bye week gave the Cavaliers some much-needed rest, but the health and playing status of quarter back Dan Ellis is still in question. Ellis pulled a hamstring in Virginia’s 31-23 win against Maryland two weeks ago. “I still don’t know if we are going to use him or not,” Virginia coach George Welsh said. If Ellis cannot play, Welsh must turn to either Bryson Spinner, who threw three incomplete passes includ ing an interception after replacing Ellis against Maryland, or Matt Schuab. Both are redshirt freshmen. Whoever starts under center must have a big day for the Cavalier Saturday, October 21, 2000 offense to score on a stingy Seminole defense. Antwoine Womack, Virginia’s fea tured back, should be ready despite a turf toe injury. Virginia at Florida State v Vy y Site: Doa k Campbell Stadium \V/ Series record: Florida St. 7-1 Key player: RB Antwoine Womack " (UVa.) and WR Marvin Minnis (FSU) 4-2, 3-1 ACC 6-1, 4-0 ACC ■BB * * ■ - |j ~ WBB'^T 1 .. j* bhe pnnb shop • Univorsity Mail 942-7306 5 The key for UVa. is on the defen sive side of the ball. The Cavalier defense must bend but not break when Florida State reaches the red zone. This is easier said than done against Weinke, the ACC’s all-time leader in touchdown passes. If Virginia can force FSU field goal attempts, it can keep the game close. Florida State kickers have connect ed on only 5-of-ll field goal attempts this season. The Cavaliers, who have a plus-six turnover margin, will need some Seminole turnovers for a chance to win today. UVa. definitely has its work cut out for it; Florida State has not lost at home in over eight years. But the Cavaliers remember their 1995 win in Charlottesville - FSU’s first ACC loss -and know the Seminoles can be beaten. However, Florida State also knows it must show up to play. “You simply have to beat Virginia,” Bowden said. “They don’t give you nothing.”
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 21, 2000, edition 1
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